just because a message on Facebook appears to be from a friend, don’t automatically assume it is

don’t install something on your PC without finding out a little more first: Google the name of the product – if the first three or four pages of search results have people saying “Can’t uninstall ‘product xyz'” or talking about infections, don’t install it!

if ever there’s a tick in a box, read what it says and try to understand what it is you’re agreeing to – you don’t need toolbars, widgets, gadgets or changes to your search, even if the program says they are ‘recommended’

It’s too late – I’ve got a virus. Now what?

oapc can help. We use advanced tools to scan and remove most infections quickly and effectively. The term virus tends to be misused: these days we usually talk about ‘malware’ (malicious software), which takes in trojans, rootkits, viruses, search hijacks and everything else besides.

If it’s a relatively minor infection, we can attempt to repair it in your home. For more major infections, although we could attempt repairs at home, it can work out cheaper to repair it in our workshop – we don’t like charging to watch green bars go slowly across a screen and we can often work on something else whilst a machine is being scanned.

Sometimes, the only economic option can be to backup all of your information (documents, pictures, email, favourites, address book) and to re-install Windows from scratch. This is the last resort but malware writers tend not to make their wares easy to uninstall and, even though an infection has been removed, the changes it’s made to your computer can be hidden deep inside the works.